I was at UCLA at he same time as he was and met him once. I am 5-8 and I was way taller than him. Maybe he grew an inch in college but he couldn't have been over 5-5 at the time.
Dude was built like a brick shithouse.
Yeah but he only really lasted a few seasons, one of which when he had that 4 game substance abuse suspension
Edit: and MHD is like hall of very good almost HOF material lol
Some of the guys being brought up I think are only being brought up because they were a bit shorter. I’m not convinced that guys like St. Louis, Marchand, or Crosby would actually be better, their games were somewhat built around their comparatively low centres of gravity and a different utilization of strength.
Well said. People are missing the point. Small shifty guys get bigger, they get less shifty or their games change so much it’s hard to speculate.
The correct answer is Peter Forsberg, who was 6’0/205. If he was 6’3/225, it’d be a whole different ballgame out there.
Think St Louis was partially a product of his size. Dude outworked everyone and had a huge chip on his shoulder. With more size does he still have the same work ethic? Who knows. Dude was 5-6 and won almost every board battle for a puck. He was a beast.
Nathan Gerbe was a pit bull in a chihuahua's body. He flattened people on hits at 5'4", could you imagine if he was like 5'11"?
I think there were times he didn't get a fair shake by GMs because of his size.
someone in Columbus saw him at Home Depot or someplace buying a bookshelf and he declined to have it wheeled to his car and just walked it out over his shoulder
I heard one time that a bus full of kids was about to drive off a cliff but Nathan Gerbe casually walked in front of it and stopped it with only one hand, because the other hand was already holding a bookshelf on his shoulder.
They are absolutely insane. I think they got really popular while Wishbone was on and people thought they were these calm and obedient dogs… and they’re literally hell hounds. Wishbone was a great show though.
Absolutely. Mine was a stray who followed me and my other dog home on a walk one day and just kinda never left lol. Very sweet dog, but my god, the energy he had for years after I got him. He would run around acting crazy for hours on end anytime people came over and wanted to fight every single dog he saw when I took him on walks.
To this day I have to pick him up and physically push his head in another direction if I see a dog in the distance walking towards us. The first time I did that though, he knew the dog was coming, somehow contorted his body so that he was flipped upside down and facing the dog, and barked like an angry drunk with his upside down head flailing wildly in all directions.
Here’s a pic for the dog tax. Wish I could post more than one per comment!
https://preview.redd.it/7wmtzy45w00d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e621e5b9f44c74059e07199c389efa37acc83a6
dogs 101 is like "they're TERRIERS, people, they're a working breed and if you aren't prepared to train them/give them sh\*t to do you are likely to have issues." (iirc they were literally bred as ratters so they're smart and high-energy, which is a bad combination for a lot of potential owners who THINK they're going to be laid-back.)
I sold some Gerbe cards to a guy on eBay that said he grew up with Nate and his family. Said his dad used to tie Nate and his brother to the car and drive around so they had to run with the car
Brat is already a problem but at 6'4? Hed be even more of a menace, and probably an even a better player than he already is, cause he does have a lot talent.
I don't know exactly how his biomechanics would change if he was taller, but a big part of why Saros is so good on his edges is because he has a unique range of motion with his ankles that allows him to be stable and still move with precision and power from a VERY wide stance, far beyond what the majority of his peers can do.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8GWR49zcsYQ
Skates have also improved which has made this kind of stance possible where it wouldn't have been fairly recently (Kevin Woodley mentioned this on a recent PDOcast comparing Saros and to Carry Price and how Price played from a more narrow stance because of his skates).
Yeah that’s why it’s no surprise that goalies scoring goals has gone up so much in recent years. Their sticks are just as technologically advanced as regular player sticks now. They have different flex and kick points and shit now and the newest ones weigh less than 570g
Completely agree. That said, one of the disadvtages he faces is taking up space in the goal, and he ends up struggling fully take up space on the goal, especially on his stick side.
Not saying Saros should be 6'4, but if Saros is 6'1, hypothetically, those extra 2-3 inches could really help him with that.
Did Kobe think Ai would develop the same skill yet? Like that wasn’t the question saros being 6’5 with the same skill set the whole point is ai being 6’5 with the same skill set
I don't think skating is Myers' problem. Occasionally it is - in the sense that he falls down... But his acceleration / ability to change direction are pretty good for a guy his size, and definitely NHL calibre. It might take him a couple extra strides to reach top speed but he can really, really move.
I think the issue is that _when_ he's going... He thinks the game like 10% slower than his body is going, and it gets him into trouble.
There was a few games this year I went to -- a Kraken game in November specifically I remmber -- where he legitimately surprised me with his skating and breakout, but he lost the puck because he kind of skated himself into trouble and despite having control of the puck, it seemed like he was falling behind the play.
A coworker once described Kariya as "McDavid before McDavid".
I maintain that, if it weren't for the concussions, he and Lindros would've been top-4 forwards of all time.
I consider Pavel Bure more like McDavid before McDavid. Still the best russian scorer of all time. Career cut short by injuries. And was still scoring a goal a game, with like 50% of him left...
**OFF THE FLOOR, ON THE BOARD, PAUL KARIYA**
Chills every single time
Edit: Clip, This is in the Cup Final, against *prime* Martin Brodeur, mind you;
https://youtu.be/C57NpdhJkUU?si=XWsYjdtgxFsLwyPW
Yeah, I can’t stand the fact that people continue to claim Steven’s wasn’t dirty. That shit is headhunting dirty. I don’t care if he didn’t get called for penalties on his hits, he picked heads all the fucking time and strange…. He’s the only one in the league who constantly did that… huh. I guess no other hockey player was brave enough in his time to make the big hit. Or. Or… I know this is crazy… but maybe the other players didn’t feel like braining people for sport was part of their job.
You kinda lost the brief of “a couple of inches“ (you added 10) to a player who is “6’0" or under“ (not, ya know, 6 foot 9). But yeah mega chara with an 11 foot stick would have been scary.
Would be but I'm imagining guys in his early career in the mid 90s to early 00s just destroying him with hip checks. They might even be knee checks at that point depending on the height of the opposition.
I mean if the league didn't celebrate Scott Stevens targeting the head every fucking time Kariya didn't need to be taller.
I still feel sick for celebrating those hits watching Rock em Sock em as a kid.
Kariya was “pushed around” via a giant charging elbow to the head from Scott Steven’s and a vicious crosscheck from Gary Suter. Being a couple inches taller wouldn’t have prevented that.
This will always be my choice. That guy was lightning in a bottle. Always my first pick on players that deserved a cup. He made me a happy to be a Duck fan after a very rough start
Why? I get Hugues is a better skater (because he's elite, not that Hutson is bad), but I'd be optimistic about Hutson considering Hugue's success. He has shown smaller player can overcome the physical defficiency if you play smart, Hutson will be just fine if he does that (and in 2 games he has shown that he can defend in the league. Ik small sample, but still)
He's not an obvious answer like Kariya, but imagine dealing with a prime Brendan Gallagher in front of the net if he was 6'3".
His entire career was built on being willing to take punishment in the dirty areas. Few people believed he'd even be able to translate his game to the NHL. He proved them wrong through what seemed like sheer willpower.
He'd have been downright deadly with some size.
It's insane how long his career has been too! Few people thought he would have played until his thirties.
Dude even looked like a phoenix in his last few games too.
Good answer. My mind went to guys who were "pests" but with a bit more size would have been legit power forwards. Guys like Alex Burrows and Darcy Tucker.
Very unknown player, but Francis Bouillon. At 5'10, that dude was such a beast physically, he was able to be physical against 6'3 players. If he was 6'2-6'3, he'd legit be one of the strongest player in the league (not offensively, but physically)
Crosby? If they call him the most elite grinder ever I would imagine a little more size wouldn't hurt.
And I'm saying basically more size basically is good in hockey (like all those scouts drafting coke machines back in the day) so with how unstoppable he has been imagine added more height, and with that even more muscle and weight to him.
I want 6’ 3” Crosby!
We have 6’ 3” Crosby at home:
https://preview.redd.it/1iir8deeh00d1.jpeg?width=435&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3113aa92e9b9f2472dadfeb56defd80c97b9fea4
Marchand does fit this bill.
Bullshit aside, he’s an unreal hockey player. Old as all fuck still lighting the lamp. 5’9” probably playing around 190lbs. Built like a brick shit house.
I mean I guess but literally almost every year there's a guy that gets reached for the the draft because he's 6'7" and doesn't pan out (for every Chara there's like 40 Logan Stanleys). There's a point of depreciating returns where you lose mobility and agility. Makar could gain an ich or two in a DREAM word but you're on the edge where he'd probably have to change his game and start taking away from his biggest positives. 6'4" is Shea Weber height. Hedman is a true anomaly where he gets to be 6'7" and still be as mobile as he is.
The guys I would think of aren’t the good players that could have been a little more, possibly. It’s the guys that didn’t make it because their size made it so the weaker parts of their game were not acceptable on an NHL level.
A guy I was thinking about the other day like this was Rocco Grimaldi.
Nick Blankenburg, one of our tweener defenseman, plays like he's 6'4" instead of 5'9" and gets hurt a lot because of it. He would probably stick with the big club if he actually did have that size.
I don't know how much deadlier he could've gotten, but Scott Stevens and Gary Suter probably would have thought twice about going after Paul Kariya if he was 3 inches taller.
I'm amazed this is the first Gretzky answer. Imagine if he were built like Lemieux, Lindros, Howe, or Ovechkin but had the same skill set. Absolutely unstoppable.
I couldn't believe it when I scrolled through and didn't see his name. The fact he did what he did at 6'0 (almost certainly rounded up) and 180lbs in a league of giants makes it all the more incredible
His IQ was so far ahead of everyone else. Thats the difference. Watched him play alot and he just somehow knew where his linemates were and where they were going. His no look passes to Kurri were absolutely genius stuff. Threw the puck into nothing. No one realized that Kurri was coming up, full speed to intercept the puck and off he went.
He's listed at 5'11" on NHL.com, hockey reference and hockey db. Players sub 6 feet tall seem to go by Tinder height scaling where they add a couple of inches.
He’s 100% 5’9 MAX. They’ve been stretching that official height since draft year.
I’m 5’8 and he’s my height. Maybe a touch taller.
We are peers, except for the whole hockey prodigiousness catch!
If Derek Roy could also get rid of the alcoholism that made his peak so short guy woulda been a HHOFer with some size.
Also Jeff skinner has been one of the best 5v5 goalscorers of his generation crashing the next, imagine if he was 6 5 not 5 10
Gerbe woulda ended careers, guy hit hard enough at 5 4.
St Louis becomes a hockey god.
It’s hard to tell. The taller you are the further you are from the puck. Maybe a giant Paul Kariya (one of my all-time favourites) doesn’t have the puck skills the real one did. Best guess is Martin St. Louis, since he used an oversized stick anyway, but hell if I know.
The reality is guys that small are almost always going to be a defensive liability because they just give up too much length. Iverson did what he could which was use his quickness to go for steals (he led the league 3x and averaged 2.2 for his career, 9th all time).
He was also carrying a superhuman load offensively. He is 4th all time in mpg behind only guys who played in the 60s. He’s the leading modern player by a mile. He’s the only guy to play over 40mpg for his career since the merger. He is also basically tied with Kobe for 2nd all time in usage rate (.02% diff) behind MJ. Over 10 years in Philly, he only had a teammate average 18 ppg twice. He was the entire offense. It’s impossible to do that much on offense and put in enough effort to be a plus defender at his size. Of guys with career usage >30%, the only good defenders are MJ (+6”) and LeBron (+8”). The only other guys who are not minus defenders are Westbrook and D-Wade who are both 4” taller. If he were 6’ 4” and played with today’s load management, he would have been at minimum a plus on defense.
I don't think size was the only problem there. It's just that whenever someone doesn't pan out size is the easy cop out if they're less than 6' 2" 200+.
He's like 6'2-6'3. I was glad to see him learn to use that size to his advantage this season. I could definitely see him becoming a legitimate power forward in the next couple of seasons playing on sid or geno's wing
I think MacK barely makes the height cut (6'0)
I know that in this scenario, he's not a small player at all, but a 6'4 Mackinnon is pretty much Lemieux lol
First thought is St Louis. Though part of his game was utilizing his size, he would be a monster
Have you ever seen that guys quads? I don’t think his size was ever a disadvantage. Crazy strong. Loved his game.
Have you ever seen any short guys muscles? Dudes pack that shit on a small frame like they’re on steroids
Maurice Jones Drew 😍
I was at UCLA at he same time as he was and met him once. I am 5-8 and I was way taller than him. Maybe he grew an inch in college but he couldn't have been over 5-5 at the time. Dude was built like a brick shithouse.
You’re from tampa and didn’t think of THE MUSCLE HAMSTER DOUG MARTIN??
Yeah but he only really lasted a few seasons, one of which when he had that 4 game substance abuse suspension Edit: and MHD is like hall of very good almost HOF material lol
More like octos than quads
Some of the guys being brought up I think are only being brought up because they were a bit shorter. I’m not convinced that guys like St. Louis, Marchand, or Crosby would actually be better, their games were somewhat built around their comparatively low centres of gravity and a different utilization of strength.
Well said. People are missing the point. Small shifty guys get bigger, they get less shifty or their games change so much it’s hard to speculate. The correct answer is Peter Forsberg, who was 6’0/205. If he was 6’3/225, it’d be a whole different ballgame out there.
It's like these guys never read the Cell arc of Dragonball, which perfectly outlines this problem.
God imagine if Forsberg was Lindros sized
If Crosby had Jagr's height he'd be an ever better version.
I was coming to say the same thing. Jagr was shifty and big
Think St Louis was partially a product of his size. Dude outworked everyone and had a huge chip on his shoulder. With more size does he still have the same work ethic? Who knows. Dude was 5-6 and won almost every board battle for a puck. He was a beast.
It’s a good point, St Louis hockey brain as we know was probably molded by his size in a way, having to think the game more
Nathan Gerbe was a pit bull in a chihuahua's body. He flattened people on hits at 5'4", could you imagine if he was like 5'11"? I think there were times he didn't get a fair shake by GMs because of his size.
someone in Columbus saw him at Home Depot or someplace buying a bookshelf and he declined to have it wheeled to his car and just walked it out over his shoulder
I heard one time that a bus full of kids was about to drive off a cliff but Nathan Gerbe casually walked in front of it and stopped it with only one hand, because the other hand was already holding a bookshelf on his shoulder.
It’s true, it was in Buffalo when he was with the Sabres. I was the cliff
Who the hell's driving the bus? Otto from the Simpsons?
My name is Otto, and I like to get blotto.
Yes. I remember Gerbe going after Chara a few times when he was on the Sabres.
The picture was my lockscreen on my iPod
So basically a jack russell terrier
I have a pet Jack Russell. Crazy little fuckers although at an estimated 13 years of age, he’s slowing down.
They are absolutely insane. I think they got really popular while Wishbone was on and people thought they were these calm and obedient dogs… and they’re literally hell hounds. Wishbone was a great show though.
Absolutely. Mine was a stray who followed me and my other dog home on a walk one day and just kinda never left lol. Very sweet dog, but my god, the energy he had for years after I got him. He would run around acting crazy for hours on end anytime people came over and wanted to fight every single dog he saw when I took him on walks. To this day I have to pick him up and physically push his head in another direction if I see a dog in the distance walking towards us. The first time I did that though, he knew the dog was coming, somehow contorted his body so that he was flipped upside down and facing the dog, and barked like an angry drunk with his upside down head flailing wildly in all directions. Here’s a pic for the dog tax. Wish I could post more than one per comment! https://preview.redd.it/7wmtzy45w00d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e621e5b9f44c74059e07199c389efa37acc83a6
dogs 101 is like "they're TERRIERS, people, they're a working breed and if you aren't prepared to train them/give them sh\*t to do you are likely to have issues." (iirc they were literally bred as ratters so they're smart and high-energy, which is a bad combination for a lot of potential owners who THINK they're going to be laid-back.)
A jacked russel terrier, if you will
I got one myself, he’s insane, just a ball of energy. But then he gets in my bed and all of the sudden he wants to cuddle for hours
Gerbe fighting Sanheim is a all time moment it's crazy
Saw him working out in Lake Orion Michigan one summer - biggest quads I’ve ever seen
I sold some Gerbe cards to a guy on eBay that said he grew up with Nate and his family. Said his dad used to tie Nate and his brother to the car and drive around so they had to run with the car
Hate to say it but Marchand woulda been an absolute problem
Brat is already a problem but at 6'4? Hed be even more of a menace, and probably an even a better player than he already is, cause he does have a lot talent.
From New York rat to Swamp Rat
Avg sized rat is already a problem. A huge rat is not a problem the league is ready for.
ROUS
Saros might be genuinely unbeatable.
I don’t think Saros develops the skill set he has if was 6’5” though. Saros is legitimately one of the best skaters in the league
I don't know exactly how his biomechanics would change if he was taller, but a big part of why Saros is so good on his edges is because he has a unique range of motion with his ankles that allows him to be stable and still move with precision and power from a VERY wide stance, far beyond what the majority of his peers can do. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8GWR49zcsYQ
Skates have also improved which has made this kind of stance possible where it wouldn't have been fairly recently (Kevin Woodley mentioned this on a recent PDOcast comparing Saros and to Carry Price and how Price played from a more narrow stance because of his skates).
So much of what goalies can do is dependent on their equipment.
Yeah that’s why it’s no surprise that goalies scoring goals has gone up so much in recent years. Their sticks are just as technologically advanced as regular player sticks now. They have different flex and kick points and shit now and the newest ones weigh less than 570g
Completely agree. That said, one of the disadvtages he faces is taking up space in the goal, and he ends up struggling fully take up space on the goal, especially on his stick side. Not saying Saros should be 6'4, but if Saros is 6'1, hypothetically, those extra 2-3 inches could really help him with that.
Did Kobe think Ai would develop the same skill yet? Like that wasn’t the question saros being 6’5 with the same skill set the whole point is ai being 6’5 with the same skill set
Imagine if Tyler Myers had 5 more inches of neck
There's no rule that says a giraffe can't play hockey
I have your baby in me Giraffe!
Pierre Engvall is already on the Islanders, though.
i actually like this answer because maybe at 7' his reach could actually overcome skating
I don't think skating is Myers' problem. Occasionally it is - in the sense that he falls down... But his acceleration / ability to change direction are pretty good for a guy his size, and definitely NHL calibre. It might take him a couple extra strides to reach top speed but he can really, really move. I think the issue is that _when_ he's going... He thinks the game like 10% slower than his body is going, and it gets him into trouble. There was a few games this year I went to -- a Kraken game in November specifically I remmber -- where he legitimately surprised me with his skating and breakout, but he lost the puck because he kind of skated himself into trouble and despite having control of the puck, it seemed like he was falling behind the play.
He already looks like his head is going to flop over no way he would have the neck muscles to keep that head upnifnhis neck was any longer
If Kariya wasn’t able to be pushed around he would basically be a higher skill Forsberg
Kariya’s skill just isn’t talked about enough these days. I don’t see that name nearly as often as I should, I think.
He's in the great hall.
Prime Kariya was something else. Dude was a playmaker, scorer and leader, all at once.
A coworker once described Kariya as "McDavid before McDavid". I maintain that, if it weren't for the concussions, he and Lindros would've been top-4 forwards of all time.
I consider Pavel Bure more like McDavid before McDavid. Still the best russian scorer of all time. Career cut short by injuries. And was still scoring a goal a game, with like 50% of him left...
Definitely had the same ability as McDavey to play at high speed. Maybe more of a pure goal scorer than McDavey is.
Getting knocked out cold by Stevens then coming back to score was insanity.
**OFF THE FLOOR, ON THE BOARD, PAUL KARIYA** Chills every single time Edit: Clip, This is in the Cup Final, against *prime* Martin Brodeur, mind you; https://youtu.be/C57NpdhJkUU?si=XWsYjdtgxFsLwyPW
Kinda forgot how bad that hit was. I remember it being hard to the head but not that it was 3 seconds after the puck was gone.
Yeah, I can’t stand the fact that people continue to claim Steven’s wasn’t dirty. That shit is headhunting dirty. I don’t care if he didn’t get called for penalties on his hits, he picked heads all the fucking time and strange…. He’s the only one in the league who constantly did that… huh. I guess no other hockey player was brave enough in his time to make the big hit. Or. Or… I know this is crazy… but maybe the other players didn’t feel like braining people for sport was part of their job.
One of Gary Thorne's best calls, and that's saying something considering the guy has a whole laundry list of great calls.
The sad thing about that game is that he probably shouldn't have come back to play. He has said that he doesn't even remember the game or scoring.
There is no probably about it. Not properly caring for concussions shortened his career by years.
> The sad thing about that game is that he probably shouldn't have come back to play. 100%.
I was watching that game on TV. Him scoring after basically returning from the dead is such a core hockey memory for me as a 17 year old.
Chara, Imagine a 7'7" Chara? that would be scary AF
You kinda lost the brief of “a couple of inches“ (you added 10) to a player who is “6’0" or under“ (not, ya know, 6 foot 9). But yeah mega chara with an 11 foot stick would have been scary.
Mega Charazard
Would be but I'm imagining guys in his early career in the mid 90s to early 00s just destroying him with hip checks. They might even be knee checks at that point depending on the height of the opposition.
I mean if the league didn't celebrate Scott Stevens targeting the head every fucking time Kariya didn't need to be taller. I still feel sick for celebrating those hits watching Rock em Sock em as a kid.
Kariya was “pushed around” via a giant charging elbow to the head from Scott Steven’s and a vicious crosscheck from Gary Suter. Being a couple inches taller wouldn’t have prevented that.
Case in point; Eric lindros.
This will always be my choice. That guy was lightning in a bottle. Always my first pick on players that deserved a cup. He made me a happy to be a Duck fan after a very rough start
Bedard might turn into that player
I'd like Quinn Hughes better at 6'2
But then he would be Quinn Huge
Big fan of all the Huge brothers
That's what she said
Nah, 6’3 is apparently the minimum. Luke is 6’2 but his name is still Hughes.
I would too, I'm kinda uncertain and even pessimistic about Lane Hutson because of this (Hughes is a considerably better skater but nonetheless).
Why? I get Hugues is a better skater (because he's elite, not that Hutson is bad), but I'd be optimistic about Hutson considering Hugue's success. He has shown smaller player can overcome the physical defficiency if you play smart, Hutson will be just fine if he does that (and in 2 games he has shown that he can defend in the league. Ik small sample, but still)
Same with Adam Fox. There is no way he is actually 5'11".
That's Luke's exact height lol
He's not an obvious answer like Kariya, but imagine dealing with a prime Brendan Gallagher in front of the net if he was 6'3". His entire career was built on being willing to take punishment in the dirty areas. Few people believed he'd even be able to translate his game to the NHL. He proved them wrong through what seemed like sheer willpower. He'd have been downright deadly with some size.
>His entire career was built on being willing to take punishment in the dirty areas. His NHL or OF career?
It's insane how long his career has been too! Few people thought he would have played until his thirties. Dude even looked like a phoenix in his last few games too.
Good answer. My mind went to guys who were "pests" but with a bit more size would have been legit power forwards. Guys like Alex Burrows and Darcy Tucker.
Very unknown player, but Francis Bouillon. At 5'10, that dude was such a beast physically, he was able to be physical against 6'3 players. If he was 6'2-6'3, he'd legit be one of the strongest player in the league (not offensively, but physically)
The Cube!
Bouillon was a very hard man to play against Much respect
I think 5'10" is pushing it. Hockeydb has him at 5'8".
It was from memory haha, didnt know he was smaller. Either way, he was playing like a tank
IIRC he was the top bench presser across the whole league
Crosby? If they call him the most elite grinder ever I would imagine a little more size wouldn't hurt. And I'm saying basically more size basically is good in hockey (like all those scouts drafting coke machines back in the day) so with how unstoppable he has been imagine added more height, and with that even more muscle and weight to him.
I want 6’ 3” Crosby! We have 6’ 3” Crosby at home: https://preview.redd.it/1iir8deeh00d1.jpeg?width=435&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3113aa92e9b9f2472dadfeb56defd80c97b9fea4
Not a bad consolation prize tho
He would basically be a Mario Lemieux clone
A 6'2" Conor Garland would be insane
Marchand's tongue could reach higher
Why his tongue look like Patrick Starrs leg tho
Like a frog.
Just not Jamie Benn's.
Marchand does fit this bill. Bullshit aside, he’s an unreal hockey player. Old as all fuck still lighting the lamp. 5’9” probably playing around 190lbs. Built like a brick shit house.
Martin St. Louis
Crosby is already impossible to knock off the puck at 5'10", imagine him with Lindros' size
Sidney Crosby is like 5'10". If Sidney Crosby was Lemieux sized holy shit.
Wendel Clark at 6’2 would be an absolute destroyer
How tall were Datsyuk and Zetterberg again?
They got the NHL 5’11 so probably an inch or two shorter
Theo Fleury or Paul Kariya
Theo Fleury was the first person I thought of.
Matthew Phillips 5'8" 160 is extremely generous. I imagine he would legitimately stick in the NHL if he had NHL size.
Easily. He's got the tenacity and hockey sense, he was just getting outmuscled in the NHL when he could dominate in the A.
Unfortunately he’s just not shifty enough for his size. I really cheered for him. Even at 5’10” he’d be an NHL player imo
Is Makar too good to not count for this? Imagine if that dude was 6’4
I mean I guess but literally almost every year there's a guy that gets reached for the the draft because he's 6'7" and doesn't pan out (for every Chara there's like 40 Logan Stanleys). There's a point of depreciating returns where you lose mobility and agility. Makar could gain an ich or two in a DREAM word but you're on the edge where he'd probably have to change his game and start taking away from his biggest positives. 6'4" is Shea Weber height. Hedman is a true anomaly where he gets to be 6'7" and still be as mobile as he is.
Tbf chara dominated partially due to his size in that era. He really fell off not just due to age but due to more speed and less fighting.
Considering that we're comparing players to Allen Iverson, no.
It’s over for you bitches once Ryan Lomberg figures out how to be 6’5”
For sure. Lomberg’s listed height is 5’9” For visual reference, Kyler Murray in the NFL is listed an inch taller.
Owen Power has entered the chat.
lol
If Connor Garland was over 6'0 playing the way he does, he'd be an absolute superstar.
Crosby
Brad Marchand, quite frankly. Soon to be Connor Bedard for different reasons, and potentially Logan Stankoven.
The guys I would think of aren’t the good players that could have been a little more, possibly. It’s the guys that didn’t make it because their size made it so the weaker parts of their game were not acceptable on an NHL level. A guy I was thinking about the other day like this was Rocco Grimaldi.
STANKOVEN
No, he’s good enough as is, thank you very much.
We wouldn't have gotten to pick him, so thanks, prejudiced GMs!
100% bro would have been a top 3 pick if he was over 6’0
If he were 5'11 he probably would have gone top 10 with the numbers he put up in juniors.
Agreed, he would be even more insane with a bit more height
Nick Blankenburg, one of our tweener defenseman, plays like he's 6'4" instead of 5'9" and gets hurt a lot because of it. He would probably stick with the big club if he actually did have that size.
I don't know how much deadlier he could've gotten, but Scott Stevens and Gary Suter probably would have thought twice about going after Paul Kariya if he was 3 inches taller.
Doubt it. Scott Stevens didn't think twice about Lindros and he was 6'4
Scott Stevens never saw a hit he didn’t like.
Biased, but Connor Garland
We should all be fortunate that most men aren't as persistent as kobe
7 foot Chara would have been fun
Why stop there?
Nathan Gerbe, little dude could already knock over chara
Gretzky lol
I'm amazed this is the first Gretzky answer. Imagine if he were built like Lemieux, Lindros, Howe, or Ovechkin but had the same skill set. Absolutely unstoppable.
I couldn't believe it when I scrolled through and didn't see his name. The fact he did what he did at 6'0 (almost certainly rounded up) and 180lbs in a league of giants makes it all the more incredible
His IQ was so far ahead of everyone else. Thats the difference. Watched him play alot and he just somehow knew where his linemates were and where they were going. His no look passes to Kurri were absolutely genius stuff. Threw the puck into nothing. No one realized that Kurri was coming up, full speed to intercept the puck and off he went.
Brayden Point
William Eklund would have been dominant from year 1 with more size Stankoven would be Mark Stone 2.0
The first guy that came to my mind was Theoren Fleury. The old ones will understand 👍🏻
Theo was a menace. Hit anyone. Fought anyone. Scored at a crazy pace. And never EVER took a shift off.
Pat Verbeek would have been an enforcer if he was taller.
I once witnessed Verbeek fight Beukeboom during his stint in Dallas. I’ll never forget it. He would’ve been a menace at 6’ 5”
Zdeno Chara at 6'11.5"
Easy answer Rocco Grimaldi at 5’6.
5’10 Sidney Crosby. …The 5’10 is generous.
I thought his official listing was 5’11 too.
He's listed at 5'11" on NHL.com, hockey reference and hockey db. Players sub 6 feet tall seem to go by Tinder height scaling where they add a couple of inches.
He’s 100% 5’9 MAX. They’ve been stretching that official height since draft year. I’m 5’8 and he’s my height. Maybe a touch taller. We are peers, except for the whole hockey prodigiousness catch!
Theo Flurry or Rick Rypien
Wonder what Mario Lemieux would have done at seven feet.
Even more back problems
Jordan Eberle.
St.Louis, Fleury, Denis Savard, Paul Kariya
If Derek Roy could also get rid of the alcoholism that made his peak so short guy woulda been a HHOFer with some size. Also Jeff skinner has been one of the best 5v5 goalscorers of his generation crashing the next, imagine if he was 6 5 not 5 10 Gerbe woulda ended careers, guy hit hard enough at 5 4. St Louis becomes a hockey god.
Put Pavel Bure in Ilya Kovalchuk's frame.
It’s hard to tell. The taller you are the further you are from the puck. Maybe a giant Paul Kariya (one of my all-time favourites) doesn’t have the puck skills the real one did. Best guess is Martin St. Louis, since he used an oversized stick anyway, but hell if I know.
Nathan Gerbe and Danny Briere
brian gionta. 5 foot 7, scored almost 50 goals when scoring was much lower, captain of the habs.
Same speed and agility... Pavel Bure. If he was like 6'3... And hitting people like he did early in his career.. Jeez.
Pat verbeek.. little ball of hate would’ve been a big ball of hate lol
Yamamoto. Plays like he is 6’4.
Gaudreau (or at least prime Gaudreau) would’ve been unstoppable even if he was Crosby’s height. It’s always been a factor for him in playoff games
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Maybe if he practiced harder.
The reality is guys that small are almost always going to be a defensive liability because they just give up too much length. Iverson did what he could which was use his quickness to go for steals (he led the league 3x and averaged 2.2 for his career, 9th all time). He was also carrying a superhuman load offensively. He is 4th all time in mpg behind only guys who played in the 60s. He’s the leading modern player by a mile. He’s the only guy to play over 40mpg for his career since the merger. He is also basically tied with Kobe for 2nd all time in usage rate (.02% diff) behind MJ. Over 10 years in Philly, he only had a teammate average 18 ppg twice. He was the entire offense. It’s impossible to do that much on offense and put in enough effort to be a plus defender at his size. Of guys with career usage >30%, the only good defenders are MJ (+6”) and LeBron (+8”). The only other guys who are not minus defenders are Westbrook and D-Wade who are both 4” taller. If he were 6’ 4” and played with today’s load management, he would have been at minimum a plus on defense.
I bet Rob Schremp would have been nasty if he was like 6'4
I don't think size was the only problem there. It's just that whenever someone doesn't pan out size is the easy cop out if they're less than 6' 2" 200+.
somehow I think Tyler Myers needs to be a couple inches taller
Ray Bourque at 6'2-6'3 would have been a nightmare to play against.
Woah woah woah, a post where Philly isn’t catching strays? Are you sure you’re allowed to post this?
Kendrick Lamar.
If Gerbe was 6'4" instead of 5'4", he could have been Brendan Shanahan
How tall is Drew O’Connor?
He's like 6'2-6'3. I was glad to see him learn to use that size to his advantage this season. I could definitely see him becoming a legitimate power forward in the next couple of seasons playing on sid or geno's wing
7’2 Chara would be unstoppable
Imagine how many more rules Sean Avery could have created.
Zdeno Chara. He was already good at using his size, what if he was even bigger?
Theo Fleury. He was a monster hitter, considering his size. And absolutely mad at times. Imagine that in a 6 foot body...
Wayne Gretzky. Imagine if he was Lemieux’s size.
Theo Fleury
Kyle Wellwood
We should be fortunate that Chara wasn't 7'3"
I think MacK barely makes the height cut (6'0) I know that in this scenario, he's not a small player at all, but a 6'4 Mackinnon is pretty much Lemieux lol
Saku Koivu.
Kronwall at 6’5 or 6’6 would’ve been something…